What are the limits to human performance? This episode is all about that. It’s not an easy question to answer. As you’ll hear, those limits are elastic – and they are about the body and the mind.
My guest is Alex Hutchinson. Alex is an award-winning journalist and author. He has a regular column in Outside magazine. His most recent book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance is amazing. This is a book that among other things, explores the relationship between the mind and body in athletic performance. In reading it, I came away with not only a greater understanding of the research into athletic endurance, but with a far greater appreciation for the interaction between mind and body than I ever had before.
And, when we think about uncertainty, one of the biggest uncertainties we have is in knowing the limits to our physical performance as humans – and how these limits may have been set by our own minds.
This is an amazing conversation. In it, we cover:
- The background to Endure which includes a great story by Alex;
- The role of perceived effort;
- The “Central Governor Theory”;
- Pacing and risk;
- Belief;
- Oxygen and breath;
- Mental fatigue
- Tons more!
Show notes:
Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance
Alex’s column in Outside Online
Alex’s New Yorker article on Brandon Hendrickson and extreme breath holding
Good to Go by Christie Aschwanden
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